I get a lot of questions from gold investors as to the difference between “No-Motto” and “Motto” relating to some of the gold coins offered today.   No Motto refers to coins which have the words “In God We Trust” removed from the face of the coin, whereas Motto coins still have the wording in place.

In 1907, then President Teddy Roosevelt commissioned sculptor Augustus Saint Gaudens to create new gold coins for the United States.   In the process, the coins were created without the “In God We Trust” inscription.   The public realized after some time that the words had been removed and they demanded that the “Motto” be restored to the coins.   In the middle of 1908, the US Mint halted the production of “No-Motto” Saint Gaudens coins.    The coins were then restored with the Motto of “In God We Trust” to the reverse of the coins just below the eagle.

The Saint Gaudens (1908) Gold Coins with “No Motto” are much scarcer than the $20 Saint Gaudens Gold Coins with Motto version of the same grade. We would recommend that investors certainly consider adding the “No Motto” versions to their gold investments.